My flight to Kuala Lumpur was due at 11.00pm, but I was eagerly to leave this place I used to call home and was ready to eradicate any memories that came with it. After ensuring that I had not left anything behind, I went for a shower, strolling past the passageway, the common room and the kitchen before entering the bathroom, reminiscing every recollection that left trailing in each room.

I got into the tub, turning the hot and cold water tap simultaneously before adjusting the right temperature. Squeezing out the final residue of Soap Glory's Clean On Me shower gel on my palm, I lathered it around my bare skin and gently scrubbed between reachable crevices on my body while cautiously caress the foam around my wounded belly. The comfortable lukewarm water was inviting enough that I decided to shampoo my hair. I removed the hair tie from my short locks and titled my head forward under the running water. I soaked my hair thoroughly before applying a generous amount of Kérastase shampoo onto my head and massaged it gently into the roots of my hair. The calming ritual of the shower during my last day in Manchester was all I needed at that moment.

But that moment was somehow short-lived as I was interrupted by the sound of battering outside the house, loud enough that it was audible from the bathroom.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I ignored the sound, assuming it came from my next-door neighbours. But as I turned off both hot and cold taps, the knocking went persistent and harsh in every minute accompanied by a muffled shouting of a male voice. That was when I realised the source of that sound came from the front door.

I quickly grabbed a towel that I left by the sink and wrapped it around my body. I opened the bathroom door, letting out clouds of steam from the warm shower to dissolve into the kitchen that connected to the bathroom.

Then, as I walked from the small kitchen into the common room, my heart raced. I tried to gauge the person that called me out and rattled my front door with his repetitive thumps, he could either Abs or Hussaini's men. I cowered to the floor and crawled across the passageway from the common room to my bedroom, avoiding any possibilities of that person seeing me with only my towel on through the blinders.

Finally, the knocking stopped, and I spotted his silhouette through the window departing away. After feeling safe enough to walk around the room, I quickly dried myself and lodged into my undergarments that I prepared on the bed without hesitation.

Suddenly, I sensed the presence of someone emerging from behind and held me by my arm. I shrieked in my reflexes, swaying my free hand onto the person's face for a hard slap. I instantly felt the scuffed surface on his jawline in my palm when it passed his stubble.

When I discovered it was Nick that ambushed me, my eyes widened. Nick flinched a few inches away from me, casually recovering himself from the shock.

"I'm sorry–" I gasped, and my reflex was about to caress his slapped face, but I halted.

I cautioned myself to stay away. Nick could still be dangerous. I managed to grab hold to my towel, covering my lingerie-clad body while I remained frozen in front of him. Nick still looked as beautiful as I remembered but his perfect five o'clock shadow was something new to me.

"I'm still surprised by how your defences reflexed after everything that I've taught you. It's no wonder why you're their easy target," he said to me cynically with a smirk on his face.

"What the hell do you want, Nick?" My empathy for slapping him turned agitated by his annoying remark. "Get the hell out of my house or I'll call the police."

"They're after you, Zahida," he replied nonchalantly.

"Don't call me Zahida!" I snapped. "You can no longer deserve to call me by my name."

"Okay," he shrugged and went on, "My father and his men are anticipating your arrival at the airport. So, you can no longer go back with the ticket you bought. You need to leave via London. Now, finish up what you're doing, we're leaving now."

"Why would you even care?" I evaded my eyes from meeting him.

"If we don't move now, you'll be dead," Nick cautioned me impatiently.

"Stop trying to be authoritative!" I exploded. "I no longer do things under your fuckin' command!"

"Then stop being petulant," Nick argued back.

"Piss off!" I raged, rolling a few more slaps and punches at him from his head down to his torso. He however remained stationary, absorbing my relentless tantrum attacks while cautiously guarding his crotch with his hands. "You, sick son of a bitch!" I repeatedly shouted at him in my every strike.

The sudden bite on my wound during the strike made me recoiled. I propped against the wall before sliding down and flopped on the floor. I loosen my towel that was around my body and clasped it against the after-surgery scar that was under my belly button, hoping it would stop the pain from pulsating.

"Careful!" Nick cautioned. His eyes followed my movement but contained himself from drawing near me. He shuffled towards my bed and sat on the uncovered mattress, studying me closer. "Can I see it?"

"What's it to you?" I asked.

"Is it mine or is it Abs?" he asked back.

"Fuck off!" I swung my right leg, aiming for his chest but failed as my foot was a few feet away from him. Then, I withdrew my leg and targeted his shin. "If you're here to insult me, then you better be fuckin' leave. I rather die getting killed than being around with heartless dickheads like you."

He opened his mouth to respond but closed immediately and reassessed his thoughts. "Did they cut you deep?" he queried curiously.

"If I show it to you, will you promise to leave me alone?"

"I can't guarantee that," he responded frankly. "But I'll swear I won't say anything hurtful."

It was a fair deal that I willingly accepted. I slowly got up and dropped the towel to the floor, revealing the fresh scar before his eyes. "You can only see but you can't touch."

He studied my scar for a couple minutes in agony. There was a mix of gloominess expressed in his face, making him feeling anguish, resentful, sorrow and appalled by the sight of it. He held his tears from rolling, taking a few deep breaths before he braved for another question, "So it's true that he didn't survive?"

I sighed at his question, wasn't sure the best answer to give him without having him to flip. I wouldn't want to let out the details about my painful decision to have D&C as per doctor's advice. "If you meant the baby inside me, well– yeah, he didn't make it, though. They said he wasn't strong enough to even survive the first trimester," I finally said.

Nick swallowed hard by the news. He buried his face in his hands and cried quietly. I stood still watching him sobbing in remorse. "I shouldn't have left you," he whimpered.

"You shouldn't have run away from your dad either," I replied.

"God damn it!" he got up, kicking the bed behind him that it swerved diagonally away from him. He turned towards the bed and flipped it around, causing me to startle. I watched him a few feet away, as he hurled his wrath around the empty room for a couple of minutes before slowing down to calm himself. He wiped the wetness of his face and took another deep breath before exhaling, rubbing his palm against his nape, "I shouldn't have exposed you. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have let them come to you."

"But sooner or later they will find out," I opined.

"Not if I'm being careful," he mouthed. "I'm sorry, we end up like this."

"I'm glad that's how you feel," was all I could utter. "But it's okay, I'm leaving you anyway. So, I'll be the least of your problem now."

"I guess you're right somehow," Nick shook himself off from his daze and knelt in seiza sitting posture in front of my luggage before extracting anything from it that he could possibly define as essential.

"What are you doing? Stop it!" I pulled himself away from my luggage but failed. Despite him having an emotional attack, he was still strong to combat my grip. "I just had those packed."

"You're not taking all of them," he said while dislodging my toiletries bag and a couple of my shirts and trousers from the luggage and on to the floor. "You're going to travel light for easy mobility. I'll have the guys take the rest and ship them to your KL house."

"No!" I protested and slid the luggage away from him. "You're supposed to go and confront your dad while I pass through the boarding gate unharmed."

"You're so stup–" Nick held his tongue, remembering the promise he made. "You're still in denial, aren't you?"

"I am not," I said in defiant. "I just don't want to get involved in your daddy issues. You should have settled your problems with Hussaini rather than coming here and trying to save me."

"And you thought that'd sort everything out? How can you be so senseless?" Nick shook his head bitterly. "They're not leaving you alive regardless. I've put you in this mess, I'm taking you out."

"Why? It wasn't me who they wanted? It's you?" I retorted. "Why do they have to drag me along?"

"Things aren't that simple, sister," Nick answered. Addressing me as 'sister' seemed to be more appropriable to him moving forward. "They still wanted us both dead either way."

"Then, elaborate," I demanded, soliciting his every reply rather than having him willingly impart the information.

"Look, the more we talk about this, the more time we stall," he grunted irritably. He tried to stuff my discarded items into my Osprey hiking backpack, but I tugged it away from him and did the packing myself.

"How can I trust you?" I casted a doubtful look at him. He pursed his lips for a few seconds before taking out his favourite .44 Magnum that was secured in a holster under his YSL teddy jacket and placed them in front of me. "Oh no, hell no!" I edged away from the gun.

"This is for your safety when things get awry," he said. "Protect yourself from anyone, even from me."

"How do I know it's loaded?" I said suspiciously.

"Go ahead and check it out," Nick gestured at the gun. "But we need to move fast before they find out and track us."

"Well, can you at least allow me to get dressed?" I creased my eyebrows at him. "I don't feel comfortable having you eyeing on my bra and panties without thinking that you still want me."

"Yes, sorry. Go ahead," Nick looked away and scrambled to the common room before shutting the door behind.